Kaypro Computer History

I've added a bit of info below. Best Regards, Lowell Kinzer lkinzer(a)sciti.com At 08:06 PM 9/28/99 , Phil Clayton wrote: The company name was Non-Linear Systems, Incorporated. Here is a description of the company from a KAYCOMP II brochure, circa 1982: A WORD ABOUT NLS Non-Linear Systems, Inc., is the originator of the digital voltmeter and an innovative leader in the field of electronic test equipment. Organized in 1952, NLS has been a major supplier of digital voltmeters and ratiometers to large corporations in the aerospace industry. Since 1972 NLS has been consumer directed, organizing a worldwide network of distributors, providing small, portable multimeters, oscilloscopes, counters, frequency meters, temperature meters and DPM's. And now--NLS has entered the world of computers with one prime thought--to provide the best value in a small, business and family computer. An early (black & white) KAYCOMP II brochure lists the following software bundle: STANDARD SOFTWARE CP/M -- General purpose operating system. SUPERVYZ -- a menu operating system providing the untrained user immediate access to computer activity. MBASIC -- High-level interpreter language for quickly obtaining problem solutions. MULTIPLAN electronic worksheet for interdependent variables. Word processing program. MU/MATH -- Advanced mathematical manipulation program. A later color KAYCOMP II brochure lists a different software bundle. STANDARD SOFTWARE INCLUDED: CP/M 2.2 SBASIC SELECT wordprocessor PROFITPLAN spreadsheet program UTILYZE menu driven CP SOFTWARE OPTIONS: Finance and programmable PROFITPLAN enhancements. SELECT spelling dictionary. M/BASIC Here is the software list from a 1983 KAYPRO II brochure. STANDARD SOFTWARE INCLUDED: WORDSTAR THE WORD PLUS PERFECT WRITER PERFECT SPELLER PERFECT FILER PERFECT CALC PROFITPLAN CP/M 2.2 MICROSOFT BASIC UNIFORM OPTIONAL SOFTWARE: MAILMERGE -- A WORDSTAR-compatible mailing list/form letter program MICROPLAN -- An upgrade of PROFITPLAN specializing in financial analysis CONSOLODATED MODULE -- A MICROPLAN enhancement for merging individual spreadsheets dBASE II -- A relational database management system SUPERTERM -- For transmitting and receiving data via a modem S-BASIC -- A structured basic language for programming B-TREES -- A programmer's file indexing system written in S-BASIC C-BASIC -- A basic high level language for programming TINKERKIT -- BIOS ROM and utility source listings The computer was originally marketed as the KAYCOMP II. Copyright to the name "Kaycomp" was held by others, so the computer name was changed to Kaypro II (I don't know if I still have a copy of the source for that info). If I recall correctly, Kaypro Incorporated was created in mid 1983, separating the computer production from NLS ( which "became a wholly-owned division of Linear Measurements, Inc." in 1992 according to http://www.nonlinearsystems.com/index.html). Andy Kay's latest venture is Kay Computers (www.kaycomputers.com), which produces the Pro Series line of computers. Non-Linear Systems, Incorporated's first computer model was called the Kaycomp II and was released in March 1982 at a price of $1,795. A "new products" article about the Kaycomp II appeared in the Electronic Engineering Times 3/15/82 issue. It included a black & white photo of the Kaycomp II, which has the CRT centered in the case, a disk drive placed vertically on either side of the CRT. The brightness control, power and reset switches are above the left-hand disk drive. There are no ventilation holes along the top of the sides like those on later models. The case is painted a solid, dark color. There is a horizontal stripe, in a lighter color across the center of the side containing the logo "KAYCOMP II." The keyboard enclosure is the same color as the contrasting stripe. The picture caption says that "[t]he Z80A-based micro comes wrapped in a fan-cooled metal cabinet that snaps together for easy portability." In the body of the article, the case is referred to as "weatherproof" and "low-profile."